George Moore
Héloïse and Abélard, 1921
London: Cumann Sean-eolais na hEireann
One of 1,500 copies. Signed by Moore.
137
Further images
2 vols. Moore, by many considered the first Irish modernist writer, here retells the famous love affair of the titular characters. Notably printed by a Celtic Revivalist publisher bent on...
2 vols. Moore, by many considered the first Irish modernist writer, here retells the famous love affair of the titular characters. Notably printed by a Celtic Revivalist publisher bent on circumventing various obscenity and censorship laws; hence the "privately printed" designation, by which the publisher could claim that the book was not meant for public sale and therefore could not be subject to confiscation. Of course, this was not true, and censors seem to have gotten wise to the maneuver: tipped in to the first volume is a notice to U.S. customs officials to confiscate the work should it be imported. Presumably this was issued to maintain the market privilege of Boni and Liveright, the New York firm responsible for another limited, but unsigned, edition of the same work. Boni and Liveright were, however, just as invested in the circulation of provocative materials, including T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and an attempt, albeit ultimately unrealized, at James Joyce's Ulysses. Included is the pamphlet, likewise issued by Cumann Sean-eolais na hEireann, of accompanying fragments of the narrative. Copies bound in gray-blue paper over boards backed in pale paper. Mild toning and rubbing to edges, else near fine in original dust wrappers, these overall toned and showing some chipping. Pamphlet thread-bound and with edges worn. All edges uncut.